Bruins Will Take Whatever They Can Get : UCLA: Getting back to .500 is good, but a bowl bid--any bowl bid--would be better.

Already laid low by the Wildcats and cuffed around by the Bears, UCLA left the Rose Bowl under the cover of darkness Saturday riding a one-game Pac-10 winning streak, courtesy of Oregon State. Leave it to the Beavers to help out.

At UCLA, this has been the kind of year where progress is measured in small steps, such as the one the Bruins took in a 26-17 victory over Oregon State before 43,427 spectators and more than 60,000 empty seats in the Rose Bowl.

So it was left to Coach Terry Donahue to place the game in proper perspective: “Last year, we lost to that team. And today, we beat them. So, what the heck.”

The Bruins triumphed in something less than a heck of a game, but they weren’t about to quibble over success. After finishing 3-7-1 last year, Donahue’s worst season since he began coaching UCLA in 1976, the Bruins are 4-4.

That’s one small step for Bruin-kind.

“It’s an improvement,” said quarterback Tommy Maddox.

Meanwhile, UCLA’s hopes to play in a bowl game are still flickering. Even before the Bruins lost conference games at home to Arizona and on the road at California, Freedom Bowl director Don Anderson said the Bruins would be a top candidate for the game in Anaheim even at 6-5.

From where center Lance Zeno stands, that sounds pretty good.

“We’d be happy to go to any bowl game this year,” he said.

Free safety Eric Turner was even more succinct: “A bowl is a bowl . . . after not going to one at all last year.”

Turner is in a minority on the Bruin defense. He is the only player to start every game on defense this year. Because of injury, Donahue has been forced to start eight different lineups in eight games. Key injuries to linebackers Rocen Keeton, Roman Phifer and Arnold Ale have kept UCLA’s defense from operating at less than peak performance.

Even against Oregon State (1-7), the Bruins’ problems on defense did not disappear. Scrambling quarterback Matt Booher proved to be an elusive target.

Booher led Bruin tacklers on many a merry chase. He ran for 51 yards, lost 42 yards and finished with a net gain of nine yards.

“Everybody saw what was happening,” Donahue said. “You guys in the press box are saying ‘Gosh, why can’t they tackle?’ and I’m on the sidelines saying, ‘Gosh, why can’t we tackle?’

“We correct it by getting quicker, getting to the ball, getting off blocks and being able to play a little better,” Donahue said.

Maddox surely has had better days. He completed eight of 17 passes for 98 yards and didn’t look sharp, but he was not about to start complaining.

“It might not be much of a victory, but it is a victory,” Maddox said. “Last year, that team beat us.”

Sadly for the Bruins, there are no more Beaver-caliber teams on the schedule. Next Saturday, UCLA plays Oregon (6-2) in Eugene and follows that with a game against Washington (7-1) in Seattle. UCLA finishes the regular season at home against USC.

“That’s the meat of the season for us,” said Zeno, who was able to play only the second quarter because of strained tendons in his right foot. Zeno wore a special boot with a hard sole that would not permit his foot to bend. “These games will decide if we go to a bowl game or not, or if we have a winning season or not.

Kevin Williams, who made a reappearance at tailback, noted that UCLA has a chance, at least.

“Realistically, we have to win all three of the games to make the season respectable,” he said.

Donahue has learned to deal with an up-and-down season, perhaps realizing it’s better than a plain down season like a year ago.

“At times we look OK and other times we aren’t very good,” he said.

“We need to improve on last year, which we’ve already done. We’re a better-looking football team. We don’t get blown out 42-7 to Arizona, we don’t lose to Stanford and Oregon State.

“Yeah, we lost to California, true, but we’re clearly a better team. We’re also a long way from being a good football team.

“To call the season a success now, how many games do we have to win? I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

Maybe not, but winning the last three sure wouldn’t hurt and the one UCLA got Saturday was a step in the right direction, however small.